Anyone got any "DIRT" on Dr. Ariel Ortiz
Ok so I Got My Appointment For Dec. 6 with Dr. Ortiz. Its gonna be a family retreat... well kinda if you consider major surgery a form of leaser. My brother, sister and I are having the procedure done in out of all places TJ Mexico with Dr. Ariel Ortiz. I have been doing reasearch on the band for about three years now. I had found a great doctor localy (Dr. De La Cruz Munoz) but as the story goes the Insurance company fu...plugged me in the end. So i had to swith the game plan to self pay and Mexico. After three months of research i narrowed it down to Dr. Ariel Ortiz. So far I have not found anything negative about Dr. Ortiz which kinda worries me. You all know the saying "if it sounds too good to be true..." Either this guy has an impecable track record or he has a hell of a staff to cover his tracks. So thats why im here I would greatly appreciate any information anyone might have about Dr. Ortiz. Good or Bad or even rumors... i need to know that I didnt miss anything or that i wasnt led on "Propaganda". I know this is a bad case of last minute jitters but if I dont do this I think the anxiety of not doing it would kill me. Again I would greatly appreciate some feed back.
Thank you to all who took the time to read my post.
Michael from Miami
Dr. Ortiz is not a name I am very familiar with, although I have heard his name mentioned. I am also going to Mexico for surgery (RNY) --- on Dec. 10th. I am having Dr. Salvador Valencia. He practices in both TJ and Ensenada Mexico.
Read my blog if you want to know more about him. He does do Lap Bands, if that is what you are looking for.
Jen
I met with him about 3yrs ago I was looking into the band...My DH was so worried, so we met with the Doctor(we live close to MX....We liked him but what worried me was $10,000 and all the follow up appointments and complacations that could happen...I was so scared. He sat a nd talked with us for about 45 minutes until we had all our questions asked. Very nice and I think he knows his stuff.
Well I;m glad I didn't do it after all I've read about what can go wrong and does go wrong.The slips, erosion etc...
I'm now going with the VSG no follow-ups, no fills, it's one surgery with almost NO complcations!!
no pinging, dumping, it's perfect and about $10,000...no fills..restrictive surgery.
Anyway good luck, I think he's a great doctor but just does the wrong surgery for me.
Hi Michael,
I had surgery with Dr. Ortiz on October 1st. To make a long story short, I had severe complications 4 days after surgery, and had to be hospitalized up here in the US the day after I arrived home. I ended up being extremely ill, and had to be transferred to a large medical center an hour from my home, due to nausea, vomiting, electrolyte imbalance and pain, and the band had to be removed 10 days after it was inserted. The US surgeon who took it out said it was twisted and hadn't been sutured in place at all, which was causing my abdominal pain, severe nausea and vomiting.
The Obesity Control Center, which had seemed like a great place with dedicated experienced professionals BEFORE I had problems is now ignoring me completely and not answering my emails. I gave them a chance to do the right thing, and requested that they refund my banding fee and help with the medical expenses here which will not be covered by insurance, since the band was not inserted properly, but have basically been ignored for the last month.
So for me, the bottom line is that I am out the $8,500 initial fee, plus (from the bills that have come in SO FAR) another $16,000, went through a lot of unnecessary pain and illness, and oh yeah, I don't have a band anymore, so it is all for nothing.
I am trying to research if I have any legal recourse, but it is not easy finding info about suing a medical facility in Mexico, which is probably why they are practicing there in the first place. If anyone has a suggestion, I would appreciate it.
I think they do a great job if things are going well, but you can learn a lot more about a place when you see how they handle problems. I my opinion, they are behaving shamefully and unprofessionally by not even speaking to me.
hey micheal i am very interested in your story and your surgery how can we connect?
i myself is going to tijuana .... here is my email [email protected]
The biggest problem I have with Dr. Ortiz is that he does not do most of your surgical procedure, the assistant surgeon does. The assistant surgeon opens you, prepares the stomach for the band, and then Dr. Ortiz comes in, slips the band around your stomach, and leaves. The assistant surgeon closes you up again. Dr. Ortiz isn't even in the operating room for a majority of the surgery. That's how he can do so many bands. He isn't doing the whole procedure. He doesn't even do most of the procedure.
He also doesn't do a barium swallow after surgery. He says the barium is too thick and it can't be done. That isn't true, you can't be a Center Of Excellence in the US without this test. It's standard. I don't like his claim that barium is too thick, the truth is that it is a cost saving measure. Barium comes in a powder and you mix it with as much water as you want to make it thin or thick. You are paying for the test but he isn't doing it.
Patients complain a lot about their aftercare. There isn't much. If you have a problem you can call them but they don't take the time to call you and see how you are doing.
There are cheaper and better doctors in Mexico. Don't get me wrong, Dr. Ortiz is a safe surgeon and you'll get your band. But I just don't like the deception about who is doing your surgery and the dishonesty about the barium swallow test.
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